When Blogging Trends Leave You Behind

When Blogging Trends Leave You Behind

Sunday, August 7, 2016

There have been a variety of trends filtering through the blogging world. Having been blogging for a good many years now (though, admittedly, only blogging well in the past year and a half), I have seen them wax and wane through this thing we call the web. Some of these trends I have gone along with gladly - hopped onto the carousel, so to speak, with fashion being the biggest horse I chose to ride. However, I did always add my own little twist with it - life lessons, lowering consumption, restyling the same pieces over and over, and overall being ethical about my choices. That is to say, I chose the fashion horse because I loved personal style, and decided it was best to incorporate my love of a good read and my passion for humanity along with it. Regardless, as trends are wont to do, it does seem that fashion blogging has remained stagnant in the past year. I am ok with that, because my focus was always on the actual writing anyway, but I am feeling a little... left behind by these new waves. In particular, the biggest wave I have noticed on everything from professional Instagram accounts to the tiny bloggers on my Twitter feed is travel.

Yes, lately, it seems, that the most prominent blogging trend is travel. It's almost completely taken over my Bloglovin' feed and the Free People Blog might as well rebrand themselves as a travel blog with a dose of alternative health. Even Apartment Therapy, a design blog, is starting to incorporate travel posts. In fact, more and more large bloggers are doing "a day in [insert city here]" posts every day, and it's not that I take issue with them, but more that these types of posts are not relevant to me.

At all. 

Yet everyone is doing them and now I feel like it's "the thing." I feel as if it is expected to hop on the train and at least have a few posts regarding traveling.

What can I say? I am a true homebody. Mostly, I am too exhausted after the daily toil to escape away to a city 3-6 (or more!) hours away on the weekends, every weekend. I would rather water my plants, crack open a fresh novel, and go for a walk in our beautiful neighborhood. Secondly, and more importantly, I don't have the money. I would rather save our (precious little) extra income and pay off a few pesky things hanging over us than spend my time and money somewhere else and constantly looking to see how I can blog about it. Which, by the way, is exactly what I would do: constantly have blogging on the mind.

Honestly, having now written that out, the whole thing sounds like pure stress. I prefer my blogging to happen naturally. When I am sitting at home drinking coffee at 7 am on a Sunday morning and happen to notice how the light is flickering just perfectly off the philodendrons, and I realize how blessed I am to be given that moment, here and now, to capture and create.... that is how I thrive. It is not hard work - it something that happens. And I love that about blogging. 

Why would I exchange those glorious moments for a trend? Even when we do go to Louisville or Cincinnati for an event, I don't really want to lug my camera around looking for the perfect moments. I want to enjoy my trip. 

It's not that I dislike travel. No, it's quite the contrary. I love travelling. I've been blessed enough to visit dozens of US cities and at least 5 different countries, but I am not interested in making these moments happen just so I can write about them. With all of these things in mind, I must make it clear that I do not think other bloggers are revolving their lives around trying to fit travel into their blog - I would never diminish another person's work simply because it does not resonate with me. That would be cruel. 

All I mean to say, in so many more words that was necessary, is this: 

I don't want to focus a single post on this blog on travel, and that's ok. 

The travelers of the blogosphere deserve their time in the spotlight, but that does not mean that I have to become them. Instead, I will continue to do what I am passionate to do, whether it is on trend or not.*

Yes, I'm still right here, scribbling my poetry and painting with words, same as always. I will continue to do so until the sun closes on the hills and everlasting night overtakes humanity. I've spent too much of my life trying to find myself to write about subjects beyond my deepest passion. Sure, my number may not be as high because of it, but at the end of days, we will only have ourselves to reflect upon. Will we be happy with our choices?

Life is short. Don't spend it forcing yourself to do things you neither want nor have to do, and blogging trends are just that - an option.

How do you feel about travel blogging? Do you love it, or do you click away? Are you someone constantly on the go, or do you enjoy a good cup of tea in the evenings while the sun tucks itself into bed?

*I should note that damn, I would love a good trip out of the country minus the blogging about it. Broke girl problems, friends, broke girl problems.

Stay Beautiful,

Liz

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7 Common Writing Problems Only Bloggers Will Understand

7 Common Writing Problems Only Bloggers Will Understand

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Normally, I write about positives on this blog with a soft, muted, creative tone. However, this summer I have quite the headache being a creative soul, being both too creative and not enough all at once. I have written and not written. I have promised to dedicate myself more to writing, but the more I try to make myself write, the less I get accomplished, so today, I thought I would talk about writing problems. Because really, they have been plaguing me worse than the US Presidential Election this year (which, not to be too political, is really saying a lot... God help us).

Anyway, more to the point, here I have compiled, in an effort to feel better about my lack of work this summer, a list of writing problems and only (or at least mostly) bloggers will understand. They are things that hinder our flow and push us into dead ends only to have the brick wall plowed through whilst you are in the shower and cannot possibly do anything about it, thus creating a binged writing session with wet hair dripping down the back of your new thrifted dress.

Not that this is what is happening right now (it is absolutely what happened). Truthfully, to the point now... Here are 7 writers problems that I at least hope are quite common.

Having too many ideas all at once. This one is by far my most confronted issue at hand. I'll want to work on a short story and draft a new opinion piece and create a list such as this one. I'll have a lot to say in a very short window of time. It will be difficult to choose which one to work on first, and, inevitably, I will work on none of them as a result. Alternatively, I will half-ass all of them, resulting in a cornucopia of drafts collecting dust in a cave and nothing that is polished and well constructed for the world's beautiful eyes. Which leads me to my next point...

Having approximately 42 drafts in your box, but none feel "ready" for publication. I am very guilty of having many, many pieces that are complete, sometimes I have even inserted photographs into the post, but somehow it doesn't feel like the right time. For example, I have a whole series of creative writing themed posts that I have yet to publish because they feel like they should be carefully curated into their own blog-series, so I feel like I should choose a time specifically for them. There are,however, other occasions where this applies as well. I'll have a moody piece that I feel would be better suited for a colder month, or a piece that should be reserved to be more relevant around an anniversary of time. And, sometimes, I am just insane and don't have a reason why it feels like the wrong time.

Spending hours, and sometimes days or even weeks writing a well thought out opinion piece, only to get comments saying "great post!"... I know a good writer should be grateful for clicks and responses to her thoughts, but there is no better way to say "hey, I didn't read your hard work but I would very much appreciate it if you would read mine" than to reply with a very generic response of "Great post!!!". While I would very much appreciate it if you did dedicate a few minutes, you are by no means obligated to read my latest creative essay. If you are not going to appreciate a piece of hard work, don't comment with something that lets me know you didn't read it. Respect a writer's ego and at least skim the post and point out one piece that you did especially enjoy.

Ok, ok, I'll stop being selfish now and move on...

Feeling like a you have a good piece and no photographs that properly represent it. Please tell me I am not alone in this feeling. There has been many a time that I have created a time consuming piece that I was incredibly proud of and was ready to publish immediately, only to I agonize over which type of photos to include. I then realize that, much to my dismay, nothing from my stock supply (I keep a special folder full of random photographs I have taken for this occasion, and still turn up dry at times) seems to fit. This results in a frustrated Sunday afternoon trying to curate the best collection only to delay publication when I did not capture the mood.

Having great photographs and no idea what to write to match them. Ah yes, quite the opposite problem than the aforementioned above point. You have a gorgeous photograph, or a series of photographs, that you actually want to include in more than just an Instagram post, but absolutely no clue what to write that matches it's tone. Save the photo for a creative essay? Have a special photography post? Leave it sitting sad and lonely in the stock pile till you know just what to do with it?

Worse yet, I seem to especially have this problem with outfit posts. I'll feel gorgeous one day and know that I simply must photograph this outfit before I forget its construction (everyone hates trying to reconstruct an outfit only to have seemingly lost the magic) and run outside with my camera and tripod, then have literally no clue what to write for the post. In fact, that is why I have missed a few fashion posts this summer. I've got photo shoots just sitting around, but the magic is not yet complete.

Writing passionately about a subject then realizing it doesn't fit your blog. I try to keep this blog related to outfits posts, creative writing, and thoughtful essays these days, but in the past I have published pieces (with regret later) that just don't fit the with this particular museum of moments. Sad, because the pieces were good, but simply too large a fit for this blog. These days, I do write them, but I save those rhinestones for later in case I ever have the time to pitch myself at freelance sites.

Having days where you think you want to write, but actually want to do literally anything else but write. Mmm, yes. The days where you really do want to sit yourself down on the couch with your laptop and tall glass of infused water, but instead you spend the day rereading Harry Potter, browsing Instagram, texting a friend, or ending up on a two hour phone call with a relative. While none of these are bad things, you feel that nagging guilt for not writing. I mean, I truly do want to write on days like these (there have been a lot of them this summer), but I also want to live my life. Sometimes I don't want to be a blogger at all, because I feel like I force deadlines upon myself and cause unnecessary stress, but I would also be sad without a writing outlet.

Yes, I just want to be a superhero and do absolutely everything in a single day, ok?

Are there any other common writing problems you can think of? Do you have solutions for your writing problems? Surely, I am not the only want-to-be superhero writer in the blogging world, so let let me know your thoughts!

Stay Beautiful,

Liz

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Musings: To be out of words

Musings: To be out of words

Monday, June 13, 2016

This photo is bad but I love it. Sue me.

For the first time in a long, long time, I didn't post to this blog on a Sunday, simply because I had nothing to say. I wasn't ill, or busy moving, or working overtime, or rehearsing for a dance performance. I was out of words.

And I am still out of words, yet oh so full of them. I want to scream everything to the world and praise everything that is beautiful. I want to capture every moment before it is gone.

Maybe this is what summer feels like. But I feel so full of little things: a desire to write more, a desire to read more, a desire to grow and watch things grow, a desire to do damn near everything. And thus, my mind is filled with all the little naggings that I did not do. You did not mop the floor. You did not fold the laundry. You did not complete that book or take that photo shoot. You did not make your self imposed blogging deadline. I am a victim of trying to do everything, tis true. My to-do list is ever growing and every time I do not exceed my list, I am disappointed in myself.

I know this is unhealthy. I am a human woman in 2016 with a full time job, a dance hobby, a writing hobby, and a photography hobby. I come home from work to do more work. In this manner, I must come to the following conclusion:

I do enough and it must be enough.

Everything is enough. We do what we do when we can, and sometimes you need a brain dead afternoon to refresh.



So what is a girl to do? She is to take her time. Because I am so full I could burst and then there would be nothing left.

I am finding writer's block is really not a block at all, but too many ideas racing for space in the brain. The brain is like a pegboard - I have too many pegs and not enough board. I wish for a day off - not like a weekend, but a real day off when I would normally go to work. I wish for time to collect all the cards that just flipped off the table and carefully rearrange them to size and color. But I don't have it right now. Maybe someday I will.

But for now, a ramble. A good, old fashioned, innocent ramble. I hope you don't mind, but I must do it if for no other reason than to clear a little headspace and perhaps finally be able to sleep.

How do you combat writer's block? Do you find yourself with too much to do in too little time? Does guilt riddle you when you do not complete the goals of the super-human? Do you ask far too many questions when you have nothing to say?

P.S. If you are looking for something deeper, my greatest apologies. Please check out any of the following recent posts for something with a little meat on its bones.

How to Capture Starburst Photography
Why I Choose Minimalism and What it Means to Me
How to Wear a Band Shirt Fashionably
The Truth of Freedom and How to Find Your Own
On Consumption and When it's Ok to Buy New Clothes
On Transforming the Ugly into the Beautiful
Crafting the Art of Empathy

Stay Beautiful,

XOXO Liz

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Why I Choose Minimalism and What it Means to Me

Why I Choose Minimalism and What it Means to Me

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Minimalism. I’ll bet any number of images do a slideshow in your mind when you hear that word. Wardrobes entirely constructed of black and grey materials and sleek lines. Studio apartments decked out entirely in head to toe white. Closets only containing 10 pieces of clothing in the same soft color palette to be mixed in matched with care and ease. The most recent Ikea catalogue. All of these things are associated with minimalism in one way or another for a couple of reasons.

1. “Minimalism” is trendy and everyone is trying to get on board with some aspect of it (art, personal style, décor, amount of things you own)
2. People don’t understand what minimalism really is.

As you may have guessed, today we are investigating number 2.

People don’t know what minimalism really is.

Before we go any further, let's investigate what minimalism isn't, in order to have a better understanding of what it is.

What Minimalism Is Not: Minimalism is not just choosing a neutral color palette. It is not only living in a van or studio apartment with one plate, one bowl, one chair, and a mattress on the floor. It is not just keeping a constant count of how few things you own. There is no magic formula, and no list you can keep to make sure you doing minimalism correctly.

In fact, and this is a side note, I really do not recommend setting a goal for keeping your possessions under a certain number (say 100 for example). I feel like this is a way to set up obsessive tendencies and to over look the enormous benefits of minimalism. Having too many lists creates tension, stress, and feelings of inadequacy, which is the opposite goal you should have! Minimalism should be making your life infinitely less stressful. In fact, that is the ONE thing minimalism truly is, speaking of which…

What Minimalism Is: A way to create a lighter, more peaceful life, minimalism is an individual concept. Maybe for you it is living in the smallest space possible with only a week’s worth of clothes and two pasta bowls for victuals. Maybe you love the aesthetic of clean lines in brightly lit spaces and plenty of room to move. Maybe you just want a clutter free space regardless of any aesthetic leanings. But the fact is, minimalism will be different for everyone, and no one’s definition is necessarily wrong, so long as you are working towards the ultimate goal: simple living, peace of mind, and living a life with minimal excess. What is excess? That’s for you to decide.

You might decide you need 8 little black dresses because you love them and each one brings you joy and a little black dress is your favorite "go to" outfit. That's wonderful. Alternatively, you may end up only owning a few LBDs, because a different dress for each day of the week is not important to you. You might have an awful lot of beautiful mismatched bowls, mugs, and salad plates because the designs make breakfast just that much more enjoyable, or you may be happy with the same white plate over and over. Heck, maybe you even want to keep the same ingredients around and only make 5 dishes that call for the same components to eliminate kitchen cabinet clutter (not me, I need 5000 spices thanks). 

Regardless of your chosen emphasis, my point is that only YOU can decide if you have excess. If you are having a hard time with this, I highly suggest reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo because it will change the way to you look at material possessions forever... 

(Think no guilt. No weight attached to “I should wear this more often because it was $100, but it's so itchy...” or "I should use this set of China because it's so nice, but I'm afraid of breaking it." Nope, if they aren't bringing you joy, it's time to send them to a new home.)

What Minimalism IS for me: I may have touched on it above, but I will reiterate. For me, minimalism is all about not having excess in the sense that it brings me dread. Nothing sparks joy for me if it requires extra work, such as dusting knick-knacks. For this reason, most of our art serves as dual purpose. Hats hang on the wall to create a boho aesthetic and shoes are lined by the door. Even my jewelry serves as art in a collage on the wall. The art doesn't get too dusty because it is worn regularly. If it does collect dust, then maybe that item is not as loved as it should be, and therefore needs a new home.  I do a little work that I do not mind (hanging things up, taking the time to arrange my shoes) in order to avoid doing work I hate. This is the epitome of a simple, minimal life.

Everything in my home is either useful or beautiful. 

Regardless of these feelings, I do admit that sometimes I feel like I have excessive clothing. However, when I really look, I realize everything is used in multiple ways and makes me happy, so I try to avoid feeling like I am doing something incorrect. Remember, always, that there is no incorrect. I keep my closet as streamlined as I can while maintaining happiness. Thus, I have come to the following conclusion:

My closet is not minimal compared to some people, but it is minimal for me. Every piece of clothing in my closet is loved. I go through it 1-2 times per year and purge anything that does not spark joy. Nope, as a blogger who loves outfits, I will never have the 30, or even the 40 piece wardrobe coveted by some minimalists, but everything is well loved, well cared for, styled, and curated several different ways. For the first time in my adult life, I feel like I have found me in my clothes. Nothing awkward, nothing out of character. I wear the clothes - they do not wear me. Surely, this contentment is minimalism in itself. I know exactly what I need to feel joyous, and I happen to have it.

Nonetheless, I do without a good many things other people may find necessary. We don't have a dryer, I don't own very many kitchen appliances, and I only have about 5 necklaces. We all use the same bar of soap. I have 3 bottles of perfume, which is honestly still too many for my usage. We no longer own physical media (save roughly 5-10 books and some vinyl records) because it just was not important to us. It's all about what sparks your own joy, and 3 bookshelves collecting dust didn't do that for us. However, jewelry displays on the wall or a neat row of shoes in the bedroom do make me feel pretty darn exquisite. 

Also, I need about 5000 different spices, please and thank you.

Seriously.

Ahem, anyway, you may see me style the same dress multiple times on this blog, or use the same props in photography. I try to keep it fresh but show that everything can still be fresh, even if it has been done a few times. To me, that is part of the point of this blog: to promote a simpler life through expression of personal style, either through clothing or slow living. 

Overall, I think I have found my version of minimalism. I am content with what I have and have culled anything that doesn't make me happy. Life is too short to be surrounded by anything but your favorite.

Do you practice minimalism? If so, how do you do it? What is your version, and how does it differ from what others/you think it should be?

*all pictures taken with an Android phone and can be found on my Instagram.

Stay Beautiful,

XOXO Liz


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What is Your Personal Style?

What is Your Personal Style?

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Occasionally I try to box in what exactly my style is in life. Is it 90s inspo grunge? 70s bohemian dream? What do I like? What do my clothes say about me? I love the wind rustling long skirts in the wind with boho prints reflecting sunlight back onto the rolling fields. But I definitely have a side of me that wants to be a little tough with sturdy boots and rough lines.

Then the other day, I saw May mention that her style is a "swipe of bohemian on the strength of grunge" and that resonated through my apartment walls a little bit. I say a little bit, because reverse the words around, and I would say that's quite my style indeed.

Like her, I believe style is an evolutionary process and it has taken me quite some time to get here.

When I was younger, I did not wear pants. At. All. Not a big deal, really. I always liked the swish of a skirt on the 4th of July while popsicles cooled my tongue.

Today, there is still some semblance of that girl hanging around. While I do enjoy a good ripped skinny with a slouchy sweater, I still love light skirts that move. The more they look like they could be worn by a pirate wench or parking lot loiterer the better. But why the two extremes? Why something so lovely followed by something so rough?

Maybe it is because I am an extreme person. I am happy or sad. I am angry or joyful. Hell, I am either not hungry at all or starving. It's a part of who I am, and while I am always striving for a balanced life, there is definitely a part of me ingrained to be extreme. I accept myself for who I am.

But back to balance. Today, I have balanced my loves. I have paired a delightful 90s-esque daisy sweatshirt with a bohemian slip. I have paired lace with severe boots. I have traveled from a sweeping field of flowers to a desolate rooftop overlooking the city.

So yes, my style is a style of extremes. I am a lover of everything with lace and a flow. I am also a lover of harder things, things that need the softening only an open heart shall bring. I am lover of all sides of this world. If my personal style is in any way significant of psyche, then I am a swipe of grunge on the strength of bohemian. I will have it both ways.

What is your personal style? Is it reflective of your charismatic heart?

Stay Beautiful,

XOXO Liz

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